A small plaster bust of Chopin sits in an office cubicle amidst the busy studios and offices at the Mercer County Community College Radio Network, its studious eyes fixed on the staff.

If the image of the 19th century piano master could speak, it would most surely want to thank New Jersey's only classical music radio station for bringing his contemporaries, his forerunners and those who came after him to 70,000 unduplicated listeners a week.

The Trenton-based public radio network, which operates WWFM and WWNJ with nine translators, (seven in New Jersey, two in Pennsylvania) is planning to expand its signal in the Lehigh Valley, a move aimed at filling more voids on the classical music airwaves.

Classical music aficionados in eastern Northampton County, particularly in the Easton area, already can tune to WWFM at 93.1 FM from the signal received by a 180-watt translator atop Lafayette College's Pardee Hall. It was installed there in 1992, under an agreement between the school and the network.

Now, due in part to the increased listenership in the area, the network is looking to put a new translator in either Bethlehem Township or Allentown, a move which would cover the rest of the Lehigh Valley with its classical music programming.

General Manager George Schwartz, told that the Lehigh Valley just debuted its first public radio station, WDIY FM, is not alarmed that the frequency he's seeking would butt heads with the new one, which is heard at 88.1 on the dial.

Schwartz and his staff offer a public radio alternative, one that is "not behold en to National Public Radio," he says, prideful that he has resisted NPR's overtures to become an affiliate.

"NPR is a downer," continues Schwartz, who thinks NPR news and talk is dull and depressing. A public radio station sacrifices some of its personality when its sells out to NPR, he says.

Except for orchestra broadcasts heard at 6 p.m. weeknights on Public Radio International, "we do not rely on syndicated programming," Schwartz says. The rest is done in-house, with a staff of people dedicated to the performing arts.

And there's no news, just weather.

"Why? Because there's 40 radio stations between Philadelphia and New York that people can listen to," Schwartz says. "Why try to compete? And no one's questioned it -- we're not inundated with calls asking, `Where's the news?' "

The new Bethlehem station carries NPR news and information and will cater to the Lehigh Valley arts community, something the Mercer County network can't do. Still, says WDIY Station Manager Mark Maben, there's no such thing as too many public radio stations.

"I think there's always room for another public radio station," says Maben, who was a regular WWFM listener when he lived in central Jersey. The more public stations, he believes, the better informed people become about how they work and their funding mechanisms.

"Markets don't suffer when there's more than one public radio station -- they complement one another," Maben claims. "So this isn't the sort of thing that puts fear into our hearts."

He acknowledges the great programming on the Mercer County network, but "it's not a Lehigh Valley station -- that's the thing that sets us apart from Mercer County."

As WDIY matures, Maben foresees on-air interviews with major artists performing in the Lehigh Valley, simulcasts with Channel 39 and partnerships with local orchestras and musicians to publicize what's going on and help fill concert halls.

"These are some of the fundamental differences," Maben says, adding that WDIY also offers choice and variety, including jazz and folk with its classic music diet.

In response to a previously unfulfilled local hunger for more on-air Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, WDIY devotes 30 hours a week to classical music, slotting most of it during prime radio time -- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays.

Back in Trenton, program director Alice Weiss, who hosts "Morning Classics" 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Friday, comes on the air after a recording of a Beethoven serenade. They're called "on air hosts" in classical radio -- not DJs.

Weiss and the other on-air hosts can choose from 6,000 compact discs in the station's library. The collection grows by about about 1,000 CDs a year, says production manager Bliss Michelson, who hosts "Afternoon Classics."

All of the hosts and staff members are musically inclined, an essential prerequisite on classical music radio, insists Weiss, who sings alto and plays piano. "You can't fool your listeners," she says. "You've got to know the difference between Mozart and Tchaikovsky."

Conveying a personality over the airwaves is also crucial in building and sustaining loyal listenership, Weiss adds.

"You don't want to turn people away or put them off by making the music seem it's above them," she notes. Weiss favors playing recordings of Baroque and classical music, although the library contains recorded repertoire from Medieval times to the 20th century.